It was raining lightly. In the N4 defense zone of the Ulster-Wessex Frontier Line, Weiss, wearing a wide-edged Cather steel helmet and a khaki military poncho, lies on the edge of a muddy trench and observes the enemy on the opposite side of the position with binoculars covered with homemade camouflage cloth.

A week has passed since the Norman Empire and the main fleet of the Free Commonwealth, and the defense line on the Ulster-Wessex border is still in the hands of the coalition with the Federation Army as the absolute main force, but the situation on the battlefield has become more and more dangerous: the two Norman forces in Wessex echo each other, setting off another wave of offensive frenzy. The northern flank regiment pursued the headquarters of the 2nd and 4th Army Corps of the Federal Army, and the southern flank regiment penetrated multiple defense lines and forced the border defense line, and the landing force that carried out airborne landing in the federal territory completed the counterattack and attacked the coalition border defense line from the rear.

At this time, 17 division-level combat units and dozens of scattered units of the coalition army were piled up on the enemy's border defense line, and the total number of combatants was only 70,000 or 80,000, and the actual number of many units was only 3 to 40 percent of the number of personnel. Even so, they stubbornly withstood the ferocious Norman onslaught, holding this vital retreat for the Union forces deep into Wessex......

Weiss prostrated on the muddy frontier for a long time, until a mechanical roar was heard in the sky, and he lowered his binoculars and stared straight ahead. After a while, a black dot suddenly flew out of the trees in the distance, and it crossed the battlefield at a rapid speed and landed behind the position with a sharp whistling.

Following the faint green smoke rising above the trees, Weiss squinted and observed for a few seconds, then turned his head and shouted to the communications soldier not far behind him: "Alert the regimental headquarters...... Based on the No. 19 observation point, 72 south-west and 14,000 feet away, the enemy's artillery position is in urgent need of firepower! ”

"Understood! 72 south-west, 14,000 feet away, artillery suppression fire. The Signal Soldier repeated.

Weiss gave a thumbs up on his right hand to indicate that the verification was correct.

The communications corps immediately transmitted this tactical message to the regimental headquarters through the field telephone, and the regimental headquarters dispatched the artillery company to carry out counterfire.

As one of the most special regimental units of the Federal Army, the Bathton Student Regiment has 4 combat battalions, 1 artillery company, and 1 baggage company. In addition to the regimental artillery company, which is equipped with 4 15PIR (75mm) field guns, 4 7PIR (35mm) rapid-fire guns and horse-drawn artillery wagons, each combat battalion is also equipped with 4 5PIR (25mm) rapid-fire guns in wartime to enhance combat firepower.

As soon as the parameters of the shelling were passed out, another shell flew out of the opposite woods, this time not one, but three in succession. The shells then trailed a short, high-pitched whistling across the defenders' positions.

Looking back, a gray transport ship was parked in the battleship graveyard strewn with huge black wreckage scattered here and there on the Ulster-Wessex border. Judging from its size, it should be a Mane-class medium transport ship of the Union Army, and the reason why it risked landing within the range of Norman artillery fire was because the fierce fighting for several days had caused the rapid depletion of the reserves of the Allied border defense line and the large increase in casualties. Due to frequent attacks by Norman forces on the land transport routes, the efficiency of supply transportation plummeted, and the Federation fleet had to use transport ships to help transport ammunition and evacuate wounded soldiers.

After correcting the impact point of the first shell, the three shells fired by the Normans for the second time landed less than 100 feet from the federal transport ship, and the crew and soldiers who were unloading had to lie down on the spot to avoid shrapnel damage. On the transport, several small-caliber naval guns used for self-defense returned fire not to be outdone, but the gunners could only judge the general position of the enemy, and the rapid artillery fire did not pose any threat to the enemy.

A moment later, the roar of the M15B field guns rang out behind the positions of the Basston Student Corps. The cadets of the military academy with excellent artillery skills were responsible for the operation, and the shooting of the regimental artillery company was quite powerful, and the first round of artillery fire caused casualties to the enemy troops in Weiss's special field of vision. He immediately turned his head and said: "Quickly report to the regiment headquarters, the test shot is very accurate, just do it!" ”

There were several soldiers around the communications corps, and when they heard Weiss's words, they all showed happy and excited expressions. There is no example of this peculiar battle situation in front of us in any military textbook or war history reference book of the Gaston Military Academy, because since the floating ability of the "Star Source Stone" has been successfully applied to flying ships, battlefield fire suppression and fire support have become the specialty of the aviation unit. As a result, the scale and quality of the army's artillery have been continuously weakened, and the tactical positioning has also shifted from being a ground attack to taking into account ground air defense. Suddenly, one day, the battleships that were rampaging in the sky turned into piles of charred wreckage, and most of the time there were only birds and clouds over the battlefield, not only the commanders were at a loss, but the soldiers were also confused.

The thrilling aerial duel that took place a week earlier turned out to be a lose-lose situation: the Normans lost 1 Wallegg-class battleship and 2 Howth battlecruisers, another 2 armored ships, 5 cruisers, and 6 cruisers sunk, while the Federation lost 1 Loyalty-class battleship and 1 Honor-class battleship, and 1 armored ship, 4 cruisers, and 10 cruisers were damaged. In addition to these battle-damaged ships, the main ships of both sides basically left with wounds. The two Norman-class battleships, which the Normans were proud of, and three of the four Admiral-Castivier-class battlecruisers on the Union side, were badly damaged in the battle and had to be evacuated early under the cover of friendly ships. After this battle, the main fleet of the Norman Empire and the Free Federation was greatly damaged, and many warships needed to return to Hong Kong for overhaul, at least in March and April, and at most for half a year.

Under Weiss's human guidance, the artillery company of the Basston Student Regiment fired a wave of effective suppressive fire, and the enemy artillery fired less than ten shells before it died down. The officers and men of the defenders were able to unload combat supplies without being disturbed, and hundreds of wounded were also lined up to board the ship with the help of their companions, and the work of unloading and carrying people could be successfully completed in half an hour at most. However, the Norman army, although it had always flaunted chivalry, was not pedantic. After only ten or so minutes, the cannon sound in the opposite forest started again, and after the first few test shots, the cannon sound converged into the rolling thunder before the rainstorm!

Seeing that the number of red frames in the special field of vision had increased suddenly, Weiss knew that something was wrong, and hurriedly left the observation position at the forefront of the position, followed the trench to the side of the communication soldier, and asked for a phone from him: "I am Clumber-Hasen, report to the headquarters quickly, the Normans are about to attack...... I said, the Normans are going to attack, report the enemy to the command! ”

Suddenly under heavy artillery fire from the Norman army, there were explosions on the defenders' positions. Weiss had to repeat it loudly to make sure the person on the other side of the line could hear what he was saying. After the briefing was completed, he found that his Mane-class transport ship had flown off the ground, and in a hurry, the crew pushed out the materials that had not yet been unloaded in the cabin, and all kinds of wooden boxes, baskets, and bags fell to the ground like rain.

Seeing this scene, he couldn't help but clench his fists and squeeze out a sentence from between his teeth, "Damn!" ”

The Norman army's conventional field guns are 17 pir (85mm) in caliber, and the range power is not much more than the standard field guns of the federal army, and it poses little threat to large warships of the armored ship and above, but for transport ships, especially those parked on the ground, as long as they are hit by a few ordinary shells, they may be paralyzed on the battlefield and become the object of wanton ravaging by enemy artillery.

The Confederate ships hastily withdrew, but the Normans did not give up. After ten minutes of artillery preparation, the Norman army came out of the woods and attacked the coalition positions in the usual way!

After surviving the bombardment of the Norman army, Weiss and his companions stood in the muddy and watery trenches, silently sorting out their battle equipment. After the troops and horses withdrew to the border defense line, the headquarters adjusted the original defense area, and the frontal defense width of the Baston Student Corps was reduced by more than half, leaving less than 4,000 feet, and the northern defense line of the national border based on the old Wessex defense line was still in the hands of the coalition forces, and they only needed to resist the Norman army attacking the defense line from the south, that is, the territory of the Union, and the pressure was still within the tolerable range. Over the course of the week, the Norman army, which had landed in the Union and defeated the Durm battle group, launched six attacks on the southern line of the border, including the Basston Student Corps defense area, and at one point broke through the first line of the defenders and broke into the second line, but was still driven out of the line by the Union army, which had no way to retreat.

The defenders had no way or need to dispose of the wreckage of the fallen battleships, and the remains of the dead were mainly the crews of both sides who died in the battle in the early stage, and the ground troops of the two sides fought fiercely in the later stage, which were hastily buried by the defending officers and soldiers during the interval between battles.

"Enemy skirmishers...... Distance: 3000 feet...... Everyone calmed down......"

The high-pitched voice of Hart Resos, a third-year student at the Barston Military Academy, echoed in the front-line positions, giving great spiritual encouragement to his fellow military academy students and the reservists who had been incorporated into this special unit during the war.

In sight, thousands of Norman soldiers wearing ear-length battle helmets, wearing yellow and green field uniforms, holding Notts rifles, which are known for their shooting accuracy, took a steady and vigorous step, and rushed towards the defenders' positions in a loose battle formation. On the battlefield of Wessex, the Norman army beat the defensive Wessex army with skillful air-ground coordination tactics, and defeated the federal army many times with fewer enemies, so that it lingered in the eyes of the world with a halo of invincibility, and according to the confession of the wounded Norman soldiers who were wounded and captured, the troops in front of them who carried out airborne landings behind the federal front and defeated the Durm battle group were the elite of the Norman army, the Norman Royal 1st Marine Division, known as the "Devil's Division". When the flying troops were unable to provide support during the day, they simply withstood the siege of tens of thousands of Union troops with the strength of one division, and then used the night battle to kill the opponent regardless of fatigue and casualties, and their strength was undoubted. The week before, the Basston Student Regiment and its friendly troops bravely resisted the attack of the "Devil's Division", and although they had the advantage of defensive positions and the superior number of soldiers, they still paid a heavy price.